When Teenagers Get Bored Teaser
by caro liney
Summary: A funny little spoof that me and my friends started writing in English class. Posted a few chapters to ask co-authors for advice : Thanks, x.


**Disclaimer: Thanks so much to Rath101 for reminding me! Pirates of the Carribean isn't mine, and Will isn't someone I made up. Sigh. I am going to need more disclaimers for the other characters I borrow, but the plot is thanks to Rath101, Sally (I don't know your name on fanfic, sorry) and a very interesting beach story in a slightly uninteresting English class :)**

**A/N: Just to clear it up, Crystal is an orphan and James is her brother.**

**Prologue**

The bay blurred around Crystal as she willed herself not to think. Her breath drew out in a ragged, disjointed rhythm and she moved, unconsciously. Standing on the cliff's precipice, not willing to care anymore, she thought about death. She rolled the word around on her tongue. "Death." It was dark, and thick; full of promises. But one name popped up in her head and the black faded away, scattering, visible for a moment in the wind. James. To leave her brother without a single member of his family would be excruciating for both of them – they were all the other they had left… Then the blur lifted abruptly leaving her gagging as the memories and pain sank her slowly to the ground.

Crystal was left writhing on the earth struggling against images on the back of her eyelids that she didn't want to see: a woman's mangled face, eyes wide with concern not for herself, her features given an eerie glow by the dim light and hair thrashing wildly about her cherubic face. Wind howled mercilessly as it tore a path of destruction, approaching slowly enough to anticipate, and too quickly to move away from. There was a rip, tear, shriek & boom as pipes, plaster, bricks & mortar collapsed atop Crystal's mother.

Suddenly the ground disappeared from beneath her and she was falling.

* * *

The wind slid coolly past, draping around me like frosty silk. I wondered whether this was how I'd die, and whether I wanted to. No sound escaped my lips. I think I was a bit too stunned for that. How cliché… "_Clumsy girl jumps off cliff."_ I mentally sighed. Maybe I actually did.

The rush from the fall exhilarating, but the water was excruciating. It was like a fresh, stinging slap to my entire body. I huddled desperately for warmth to no avail and gagged as the cold water sucked all the air out of my lungs. My thoughts trailed back to James, to apologise to an imaginary version of him, before a numbing black welcomed me, making sure the only sensation I felt was the gentle swaying of the waves with the current. The last thing I remember was watching, mesmerised, as the last of the twinkling bubbles danced toward a rippling light.

**Chapter One **

**Upside-down**

Sunlight tickled my cheek, and there was unfamiliar warmth coming from somewhere very close. Voices spoke in hushed whispers, in snippets of Spanish and English. I caught a "where is she from?" before deciding to open my eyes. My eyelids fluttered and I sucked in a breath I didn't know I was holding. I looked up and saw where that warmth came from.

A young Hispanic man with broad shoulders and a white shirt plastered to his well-built torso smiled down at me. His eyes were black and twinkling, his smile inviting. _Dayumm. _When I realised just how close we were – I was basically sprawled across his lap – blood rushed to colour my cheeks. "Mmmngguh." was my first word. Great. I meant to get up gracefully, but my bare foot caught on the end of a very long gossamer dress I had no idea I was wearing, which ended up in me falling, face first, onto very hard decking. How embarrassing… Upon hearing him jump up to try to help, I propped myself onto my elbows and squeaked "I'm okay!" but he saw my face and my indignant expression and burst into an extremely loud fit of hysterical laughter.

"BAHAHAHAHA! I-can-honest-ly-say-that-that" He stopped to breathe. "In all my years of pirating, I've never come across anyone so funny!"

"You done yet?" I was pretty mortified. My arms were crossed over my chest and my eyes went to the ceiling, unsuccessfully trying to hide my flaming cheeks.

"Sorry 'bout that. We don't get much entertainment on a ship…" He looked sheepish, but I could tell he was trying to hide a grin. Then a few dozen more people, similarly dressed in loose, comfortable clothing materialised from nowhere. Some of them smiled politely, but most just returned to their conversations or work. They didn't look at all disturbed by having a stranger with them… But more people who saw me make a fool of myself! I wanted so badly to go dig a hole to stick my head in.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat loudly to get my attention. "Excuse me, I'm not usually like that. I'm Will, nice to meet you." He held his hand out for me to shake and I took it grudgingly. I could tell he was trying to hold back his laughter.

"Hmm, most people would have asked at least a few questions by now." He seemed very confident in what he was doing, as if he'd done it hundreds of times, which he probably had.

"Oh, am I allowed those?"

"Uhh… yeah?"

"My bad?"

"Haha, don't worry about it. But it's not fair if you know my name and I don't know yours."

"Oh, right, I'm Crystal."

"Good. Now where were we?" I'd noticed we'd begun to move closer, step by step, with every word, and I could see his chiselled features closely now. I needed a second to catch my breath.

"…Right. Who are you, and where am I?"

"Well I was definitely hoping for something more original…" I scoffed, he laughed. "Right now, you're in the hold of the S.S. Amity, a former pirate ship and now a sort of connection between two places that refuse to acknowledge each other. Yes, I get that you don't get it but you will sometime, just don't hurry it. Don't worry, we're not pirates" he gestured to the array of men and women in the space-y cabin "we just call ourselves that, because we're their… descendants. We're sailing by the Sea of Lost Souls at the moment, and they don't call it that for nothing. People wash up here, people who need a new start. You get missing people right? Who never get found and disappear completely? Lots of them end up here. We pick up a lot of people – because the fish are the best here, and they tend to get tangled in the fish nets. Something about this huge body of cerulean between each 'land ho' connecting everything."

"Oh…kay then?"

"It's hard to get your head around at first, but don't worry, it gets easier." I nodded, suddenly feeling weak and faint. "You must be hungry, let's get you something to eat." He got up first and took me by the hand to help me up. As I took it, he smiled, honest and open, and led me up the wooden stairs to a trapdoor – which he pulled me up out of onto a ship's deck. Cool, salty air whipped my hair about my face, and clear cerulean (just like he'd mentioned) blue sea scattered with coral surrounded all sides but one. Earthen cliffs rose up, narrowly missing the ship on the East side, multi-coloured rings lining the sides where the water had eroded it.

"Wow.", was all I could say.

"Isn't it something? Wait for it, that isn't even the best part." He leaned over and whispered in my ear. Pinks, purples and oranges painted the over the blue sky as the world started to tip, literally. I could see the waters around me tumbling, dripping like the sand in an hourglass, the boat going with it. I clung to Will, tight, and squealed. He just smiled. "Close your eyes." And I did. My stomach did flips at the lurching motion, and I could feel my hair hanging upwards. Let's just say I didn't like it. "Slowly now Crystal, you open them." And everything was different; turned upside down – a pun that I didn't get until soon after.


End file.
